Overview
- Aichi Prefectural Police arrested Kumiko Yasufuku on Friday evening after she turned herself in at a Nagoya police station the day before.
- Investigators report her DNA matches blood believed to be the killer’s that was collected at the 1999 crime scene in Nishi Ward.
- Police say Yasufuku admitted the allegation during questioning, responding, “That’s correct.”
- Namiko Takaba, 32, was fatally stabbed on Nov. 13, 1999; her two-year-old son was unharmed and witnesses noted a woman with an injured hand near the apartment.
- The case prompted years of appeals, suspect sketches, and a reward offer, and Japan’s 2010 repeal of the murder statute of limitations enables prosecution now.